Our Life On The Road

How Social Media Changed Our Lives!

We were surfing the net long before we ever even thought of becoming truckers! But, social media? What’s that? The only kind of social media we knew about back then was the kind we just didn’t want to get involved in. There was no Facebook or twitter. There were many dating sites and small club like sites. Needless to say, our internet habits mainly consisted of emailing friends, relatives and business associates.

After we had been trucking for a number of years, Jimmy discovered a whole new world out there in cyber space! Noticing that he was spending more time on-line and having such a good time with it, I got curious. That is when everything began to change for us. Believe it or not, all of this only took place about three years ago.

I immediately began building our social pages on MySpace and Facebook and we began to make our own videos for YouTube instead of just being spectators. A whole new world had opened up! We began to make friends on-line and made many face to face meetings with some of them. Our website was put up less than a year ago and what started as a mere blog, has grown into a full site for truckers, new and old, for entertainment, advice, cooking tips, regulation updates, business advise and more!

Another avenue that opened up with the discovery of social media is music. You see, I have been an entertainer all my life. In fact, it’s one of the things I had to give up to become a trucker. I never realized the audience demand for trucking music. Being a woman, I noticed that almost all the songs were written and performed by guys and I searched to find a female trucker that wrote and recorded trucking songs. I have yet to find one. I saw this as an opportunity to possibly become the first. Meeting Doug Jones with Nashville’s Truckers tracks through a truck show I had been involved with was a major milestone. I had never written a trucking song before and wasn’t sure how to start. Doug explained to me that most trucking music was based on personal experiences or important issues.

The first song was actually written by Jimmy. We have a friend (Driver Geoff) who had an automatic update statement that we began to see many times each day.. “I’m Draggin my waggon through….” We saw this so much, it inspired the lyrics to the song, “Draggin My Wagon”. Next came the song “Lot Lizard Boogie”. This song was not meant to make fun of anyone but tells a story and teaches a lesson of what can happen when you get involved in the truck stop underworld. I tried to put some humor in it to make it easier to listen to.

Both songs are included on Truckers tracks VOL 2, Ice Road Trucker. The title track, “Ice Road Trucker” was written by Alex Debogorski. What an alliance to have and what a great guy! We have had more fun with this project and all the guys at Truckers Tracks. None of this would have been possible, had it not been for social media!

Then came the birth of “Bobby Boofay” who began as a truck Stop food critic but quickly evolved into one of the funniest characters among the trucking cyber space community! His videos make you laugh and at the same time, make you think! You could learn a thing or two from ‘Bobby Boofay”!

We have also put out many videos of mistakes that other drivers make, which sometimes are misinterpreted as making fun. The titles are meant to draw traffic, but the point is to realize the mistakes and learn from them. These videos can actually teach you something.

Our lives are much richer and we have so many more friends thanks to social media! It has opened doors and opened our eyes to many things we may not have otherwise seen. Our involvement in important issues like, special olympics, St Christopher’s Fund, Truckers against Trafficking, Jason’s Law and others has enriched our lives.

It all started with a good honest heart and the will to help, teach and entertain. We are very grateful to those who have helped to guide us and look forward to continuing this wonderful and exciting ride!

Trucking is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle! We are fortunate enough to be leased on to a company that embraces the work we do. JB HUNT has been very supportive of all our efforts and we thank everyone there for their understanding and support.

We would also like to thank all of our readers, followers and friends for spreading the word about “The Keystruckers” and “Bobby Boofay” and making our lives more colorful! We now have over 1100 subscribers to our YouTube channel, with the highest viewed video yielding over 32,000 and climbing. Our videos average between 800 -1000 views each day and it’s all because of people like YOU who we have met through Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Let’s Truck which add up into the thousands! THANK YOU!

Look for us on the highways, in truck stops and at truck shows. Come by and say hello. If you need any advise or someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to ask! We are a family out here and together we can raise the bar and show everyone the “New Face of The American Trucker”!

3 Responses

Well Jan, I for one love all the stuff you guys do. I hope to some day be out on the open road ( if I ever decide to run OTR again) and meet up with many more of our YouTube community. I love watching all the videos…some for entertainment, some for knowledge…I can honestly say even though I have not met you or Jim, I can say that I feel I have made 2 great friends. Take care out there…and keep doing what you’re doing!!